A Passion for Churches (1974)
- Directed by
- Edward Mirzoeff
- Genre
- documentary film
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Runtime
- 49 min
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Poet John Betjeman visits churches in the Anglican Diocese of Norwich during the spring leading up to Easter. He observes different rituals and shares his personal reflections on the buildings and their meaning.
contemplativereverentgentlenostalgicobservantserenepoeticintimate
What happens
A Passion for Churches is a 1974 BBC television documentary written and presented by the then Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman and produced and directed by Edward Mirzoeff. Commissioned as a follow-up to the critically acclaimed 1973 documentary Metro-land, the film offers Betjeman's personal poetic record of the various rituals taking place throughout the Anglican Diocese of Norwich and its churches in the run-up to Easter Sunday using the framing device of the Holy sacraments. Created with the approval of the Bishop of Norwich, Maurice Wood, the 49-minute film was shot on location in Norfolk and parts of Suffolk throughout the spring of 1974 on 16 mm colour film by cameraman John McGlashan. For the film, John Betjeman wrote an original poetic commentary consisting of blank verse, free verse, and prose and he appeared on-screen in several segments to describe features of ecclesiastical buildings and to reminisce about his lifelong "passion for churches". The programme was praised by critics upon its original BBC 2 screening in December 1974 and gained high audience appreciation figures. It has since been repeated on BBC Four in 2006. It was released on a limited-edition DVD in 2007. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Summoned by Bells (1976)
John Betjeman Goes By Train (1962)
John Betjeman: A Poet in London (1959)
An Artist Looks at Churches (1959)
Metro-Land (1973)
Holland i Påskesol (1971)
Påske i Jerusalem (1972)
Late Flowering Lust (1994)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.